Has the pathogenicity of XBB increased? How can ordinary people celebrate the New Year in a healthy way? Here comes the answer →

On the afternoon of January 8, the State Council’s Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism held a press conference to introduce the tenth edition of the prevention and control plan.

01

Implementing "Class B Class B Management" does not mean letting it go.

Mi Feng, spokesperson for the National Health Commission, said that starting today, my country will officially implement "Class B management" for COVID-19 infection. The focus of work will shift from "preventing infection" to "maintaining health and preventing severe illness", and from controlling risk areas and personnel to health services and management.

The implementation of "Class B Management" does not mean to let it go, but rather emphasizes more scientific, precise and efficient epidemic prevention and control, and better coordination of epidemic prevention and control with economic and social development.

02

Regarding the establishment of nucleic acid testing sites and antigen testing

Chang Zhaorui, a researcher at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said that communities should retain enough convenient testing points to ensure that residents can "get tested as much as they want". Localities should reasonably set up community testing points to meet residents' testing needs based on factors such as population base, epidemic development situation and residents' willingness to be tested.

It is encouraged that people with symptoms related to new coronavirus infection conduct antigen testing on their own. Retail pharmacies and online drug sales outlets should supply sufficient antigen testing reagents to ensure accessibility and meet the testing needs of the public.

03

How to ensure that virus mutations are monitored as soon as possible?

Yang Feng, director of the Monitoring and Early Warning Department of the National Disease Control and Prevention, introduced that the disease control department has further improved the work plan for monitoring the new coronavirus mutations. On the basis of the original work, it has strengthened the sampling, testing and sequencing comparison work of inbound personnel, patients, key places and key populations.

In terms of monitoring imported cases, close cooperation with customs will be strengthened. In terms of monitoring local cases, each province will select some cities and hospitals as monitoring sentinels, conduct sampling and sequence determination of a certain number of outpatient cases, severe cases and deaths, implement dynamic monitoring of the trend of new coronavirus mutations, capture new mutants in a timely manner, and evaluate changes in their biological characteristics, providing a scientific basis for epidemic research and development, testing reagents, vaccine and drug development and evaluation.

04

How long after being infected with the new coronavirus can you get vaccinated?

Wang Huaqing, chief expert of the immunization program at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said that if infection with the new coronavirus is confirmed through nucleic acid testing and antigen testing, it is not recommended to receive the new coronavirus vaccine in the near future.

If you want to get the new coronavirus vaccine later, according to the guidelines, the time interval between infection and vaccination should be no less than 6 months. With the deepening of vaccine research and the need for disease prevention and control, the immunization strategy will also be improved and adjusted accordingly, including the vaccination interval.

05

Has XBB become more pathogenic?

Chen Cao, a researcher at the Institute of Viral Diseases of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, introduced that since August 1, 2022, my country has monitored a total of 16 local related cases of XBB, all of which are evolutionary branches of XBB.1.

Judging from the results of many studies, the evolutionary branch of XBB has a significantly increased immune escape ability compared with the original strain discovered at the beginning and the previous variants of concern, which has also led to a significant increase in the transmission advantage of XBB in countries such as the United States.

According to current reports and research, no increase in severe cases or deaths from infection with the XBB series of mutants has been observed, which means that its pathogenicity has not increased significantly.

06

The first Spring Festival after "Class B and Class B"

How can ordinary people celebrate the New Year in a healthy way?

First, continue to do a good job of personal protection . Adhere to the hygienic habits of washing hands frequently, wearing masks, frequent ventilation, using public chopsticks, maintaining social distance, coughing etiquette, cleaning and disinfection, etc. Personal protection should also be done after recovery from infection.

The second is to maintain a healthy lifestyle, including regular work and rest, proper diet, moderate exercise, and a good attitude , to improve self-resistance.

Third, try not to hold or participate in large-scale family gatherings , reduce the number of people attending family and friends gatherings, shorten the time of gatherings, and especially avoid passing the risk of infection to the elderly at home.

Fourth, those who meet the vaccination conditions should complete the full vaccination and booster immunization as soon as possible to protect the health of themselves and their families.

Fifth, we must strengthen health monitoring and pay close attention to the health of ourselves and our families . If we have symptoms such as fever, dry cough, fatigue, sore throat, or test positive, we must stay in a well-ventilated and relatively independent room as much as possible, minimize contact with people living with us, pay close attention to the progression of the disease, and seek medical attention promptly if the condition worsens.

Source: Press conference of the Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism of the State Council